Super Bowl Monday? NFL has backup plans in case of bad weather

If Super Bowl Sunday is moved to, say, Super Bowl Monday, the first people to find out will be Broncos coach John Fox and Seattle coach Pete Carroll.

“We are advising teams to prepare in case a contingency plan goes into effect,” Eric Grubman, NFL vice president of business operations, said in an interview Thursday with The Denver Post. “If there is a schedule change, both teams will be notified simultaneously in a conference call.”

A snowstorm in the greater New Jersey area dumped 13 inches on MetLife Stadium on Tuesday. Had the Super Bowl been played at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday it would have kicked off as scheduled, Grubman said. Had that same storm hit on Super Bowl Sunday, the league may well have had a decision to make on behalf of fans’ safety.

If it’s determined with a three-day warning that a major weather event will hit on Super Bowl Sunday, there is a contingency plan to play the Super Bowl on Friday or Saturday.

“If they move it, they move it,” Fox said. “Both teams have to adjust to it.”

If there’s a severe weather event that hits on Super Bowl Sunday or the day before, the game could be moved to Monday, Feb. 4. Grubman said his weather advisers told him it’s silly to forecast the weather for Super Bowl Sunday any more than seven days in advance. So he’s preparing for worst-case scenarios.

The most likely scenario is the game will go on as scheduled. But don’t tell the fans in the stadium the cold-weather planning was much ado about nothing. They’ll get something. As in loads of Super Bowl souvenirs to go along with those expensive tickets.

The NFL is providing fans attending the game with a warm-weather kit that will be waiting for them at their seats. Along with a seat cushion, fans will receive ear-muffs, text-friendly gloves, hand warmers, a knit cap, Kleenex, a cup holder, lip balm and an in-stadium radio that will allow them to hear the play-by-play call of the team.

“From the 80,000 fans going to the game, not all of them have gone to a game in cold weather before,” Grubman said. “If you tell them it’s going to cold, they may bring a winter coat but how many will bring ear muffs or hand warmers that they’ll be glad to have as it gets colder as the game goes on?”

“If you tell them it’s going to cold, they may bring a winter coat but how many will bring ear muffs or hand warmers…”

So the NFL assumes their fans are dumb.

Dennis

Why in the world is this game being played there in the 1st place? What was the logic of choosing a SB site that had a 90% probability of awful weather in early Feb? I love a snow game as much as anyone but not the SB.

ancillaryman

Almost everyone is asking the same question. Why? Don Shula asked that simple question himself. The NFL will have frozen egg on its face after this one.
Who wants to pay $3,000 a ticket to sit and shiver in a blizzard and probably catch the nasty strain of flu that’s going around this year?
The need to have such serious schedule change contingencies on the basis of weather is patently absurd!
The reasonable safety and comfort of the players and spectators was not of utmost importance or consideration when this sorry venue deal was struck.
The contractor that installed the turf at Metlife Stadium still hasn’t been paid!
$400,000 more and they could have put a roof over the stadium.
Incompetence and greed are at the root of this sorry decision.

Ian Cannell

Play the game on Friday or Saturday? LOL this will not happen. Nice to tell the teams first but what about the fans that have already booked to fly in late sat or early sun and not take “advantage” of the 3-4 night minimum hotel stay, or lets play on Monday regardless of the people who are planning to be at work Monday or are travelling home Monday. Why play the superbowl in cold outdoor stadium? Great question that the answer is only known to the person who has received a financial amount for granting them the superbowl. Similair to the awarding of the 2022 world cup finals to quatar ( please don’t tell me that there is no money involved) I am not sure if Quatar even has a football team yet.

Ayrial Gentry-Hoffman

There is no Monday Feb. 4th this year. It’s the 3rd.

thushjz

lol, funny stuff

Mode

Really bad idea, having the Super Bowl in New Jersey. The only smart part about it is that the two teams from the area had no shot at making it so there was not going to be a home field advantage.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.